if your Arduino (like the UNO) has a 3.3 volt power supply, you can power the XBee directly from the Arduino. be careful not to supply the XBee with more than 3.3 volts.

markbee

Yes i am using arduino uno which has 3.3V power supply but i read somewhere that a level shifting circuit is needed.and I saw your blog and you have done great xbee projects.I am quite new to xbee infact just ordered it now.

OF COURSE you should do level shifting to be on the safe side. or if you will do commercial products out of XBees (google for "level translators" like Maxim337X, e.g. MAX3371 for 1 line - i personally never used one of them, but they might/ should work).

but i have to confess: i never used any level shifting until now (as far as XBee and Arduino is concerned). all my XBees until now had no problem with data levels from arduino which in fact go as high as 5 volts. but maybe i only had (much) luck. and i will give no guarantee that you might be as lucky as me ]my attitude might be too relaxed though. maybe i have to change my opinion relating to level shifting in the future.

I have had the same experience as markbee. I hook the XBee power to the 3.3 volt on the arduino and the tx and rx directly to the arduino digital pins. It works just fine. However, if you want to run one of the pro modules, this will not work. The increased power drain causes problems with the regulator's output (at least for me). In those cases I get one of the buffer boards and use it with a 5V supply.

But, you can hook it directly to the arduino, power, ground and digital all work just fine. I have one device that has ran this way for several months without a hiccup. So, my recommendation is to experiment with it this way (just connect it), and as you get more experience, move to something more sophisticated.

I hate waiting for stuff to arrive in the mail when I'm trying something new.

I would not drive the digital pins above Vcc or below GND. Unfortunately I couldnot find the absolute maximums in a table in the electrical characteristics.Typically the specification is 0.3V above Vcc and 0.3V below GND and isspecified in the "Absolute Maximum" table.

That's a nice looking board, but I couldn't tell if it actually has level conversion for the pins you normally use. It definitely has a 5 to 3.3 converter, but it doesn't appear to have a level converter for the digital pins. That would mean that you could still have concerns about signal level on the input being too high and signal level on the output being too low. Boards like the Adafruit one https://www.adafruit.com/products/126 have a buffer chip that also converts the signal levels for the often used pins.

When I use a board, I use this one because I can populate it exactly the way I want to use it. However, the board you linked to has a nice set of leds to help you tell what is going on.

But, remember, even if it doesn't have a buffer for the signal lines it will still work (I have proven that by doing it). It's just that the objections above related to signal voltages still apply.

consider if you plan to use the XBee as an End Device you might avoid "hard-connected" LEDs for several reasons.

first you want to have as low power consumption as possible (avoid RX, TX, RSSI, ON-LEDs).

second there is the possibility to connect a sensor device (e.g. temperature sensor) directly to pin 13 only to wake up when the Xbee wakes up (my next project for the blog btw., current consumption is as low as 190 µA with XBee in sleep mode and WITH voltage regulator MCP1700 and TMP36 - no need for a level shifter because it's XBee only remote).

third in some configurations even when driving from a normal power supply and not as End Device you might avoid any extra current consumption.

fourth you might run into trouble when using XBee as an End Device and have pin 13 (ON/ SLEEP) of the XBee connected. at least thats what i had, when playing around with the XBee as an End Device.

that's why i like simple breakout boards for about $2 only most. if i need any additional parts - 2/ 3 capacitors for Vin, level shifter, LEDS or voltage regulator (MCP1700 is my favourite, ~2 µA quiescent current consumption) i can add them by myself.

Good point markbee. I never considered the power eaten up by the LEDs, I was always fascinated by the way they flash. I'll keep that in mind when I build a solar powered sensor. Probably put the LEDs in when I'm testing it and take them out before I deploy it for real use.

It definitely has a 5 to 3.3 converter, but it doesn't appear to have a level converter for the digital pins. That would mean that you could still have concerns about signal level on the input being too high and signal level on the output being too low.

I think you missed some specifications of the board.It says it has a converter even for didigtal pins .3.3V to 5V and vice versa.

I noticed that in the description, but the schematic link didn't work and there just aren't enough smd resistors on the board to provide voltage dividers for the pins, nor is there a buffer chip on the visible part of the board. They could well have some stuff on the bottom of the board, but they don't show a picture of that.

So, it may well have conditioning of some kind, but I just couldn't find it. Let us know when you get it.

It definitely has a 5 to 3.3 converter, but it doesn't appear to have a level converter for the digital pins. That would mean that you could still have concerns about signal level on the input being too high and signal level on the output being too low.

I think you missed some specifications of the board.It says it has a converter even for didigtal pins .3.3V to 5V and vice versa.

kawal - I think you'll probably be fine with this board. All it really needs to convert for basic operation is the 5V power if you use it, and the Din line. The Arduino can read a 3.3V signal as a digital high no problem. I couldn't view the schematic for some reason, so I can't 100% say this board takes care of those basic pins. The description seems to indicate that it does though.